Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department are taking to support research on gene edited plants; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring researchers to have a license before conducting gene editing on animals.

The Government has passed into law The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act that unlocks growth and innovation in the bioscience sector. Precision breeding technology such as gene editing, taking place in the UK’s leading research institutes has the potential to tackle some of the major challenges of our time.

Relevant licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 continue to be required for any scientific research involving gene-editing in animals.